Navajo Company to Sell Products to Cuba

August 25, 2006 10:50 AM ET
Navajo Company to Sell Products to Cuba

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A Navajo Nation agriculture company has signed
a letter of intent to sell its products to Cuba, marking New Mexico's
first agricultural agreement with the Communist country.

"This is a big market out there," said Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M. "I see
this as laying the groundwork for many future trade deals with Cuba."

The agreement was signed Tuesday in Havana, Cuba, between the Navajo
Agricultural Products Industry and Cuba's state food purchasing agency,
Alimport.

Udall and NAPI general manager Tsosie Lewis were among a group of people
who traveled to Cuba earlier this week to negotiate potential purchases
from New Mexico. The two met over three days with Pedro Alvarez Borrego,
chairman and chief executive of Alimport.

It was unclear when the sales would begin. Prices must be set and other
details worked out before an official contract is signed.

NAPI cultivates wheat, apples, yellow corn, onions and pinto beans on
68,000 acres of land near Farmington, N.M., and would sell those
products to Cuba.

"We are honored that our products will help feed the Cuban people,"
Lewis said.

A U.S. embargo imposed several years after Cuban leader Fidel Castro
came to power in 1959 put a halt on trade with the country. But under a
2000 law passed by Congress, Alimport can negotiate the purchase of
agricultural products directly from U.S. suppliers on a cash-only basis
paid in advance by Cuba.

Udall said those restrictions make trade with Cuba "very, very difficult."

"I think we would be better off dropping these restrictions and having
free trade with Cuba," he said.

Despite the restrictions, 35 states have entered into agreements to sell
American products to Cuba since the law was passed, bringing in about
$1.8 billion, he said.

"This agreement could mean millions of dollars for Native Americans in
New Mexico," Udall said.

NAPI is one of the Navajo Nation's largest employers of Navajo people,
with about 400 workers. The agreement is important to the company as it
aims to further market its products globally. The company already has an
agreement with Mexico to sell pinto beans.

The company plans to expand its operations in the next five years, and
if successful, it could help solve some of the unemployment problems
that plague the reservation, Udall said.

If the Navajo company talks to the Cubans in advance, they can grow
products that fit the country's needs, he said.

© 2006 The Associated Press.

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